I see that the West is showing real muscle and steely determination when it comes to the nuclear ambitions of the Mad Mullahs by….offering them one last chance!

Western diplomats said they would listen to what the Iranians had to say before contemplating tougher sanctions .But after a week of worsening relations, there was little hope there would be an encouraging commitment to meaningful negotiation.

So, it’s unlikely that Iran will provide an “meaningful” negotiation but then there is the tricky business as to what the “tougher” sanctions would be, how they could be agreed upon, then the timescale against which they could be implemented and then the time required to determine if they work…tough talk indeed.

It’s pathetic. They must be laughing up their sleeves in Tehran and looking forward to Obama’s delegate, Mr Burns, direct “talks” with them. That should further help the long game.

….Now that’s not a great description of the leader of the Labour Party and UK PM Gordon Brown.

What’s even worse, this is a description of him by one of his OWN MP’s! On the ever of his Conference Speech this verdict was delivered by senior Labour Left-winger Alan Simpson who claimed Downing Street had a ‘last days of Hitler bunker mentality’.

McDoom is a political dead man walking and talking and try as it might, even the BBC cannot save the Prime Mentalist. He is going down big time and next June he will bring to an end the careers of many of those around him.

Convoluted title perhaps but not as convoluted as the bloated “jobs creation” agency here in Northern Ireland that is called Invest NI. But things have taken a turn for the worse for the fat cats…..

A major report will this week raise fundamental questions on the record of Northern Ireland’s super quango – after seven years of operations and a total outlay of around £1 billion.The official review is expected to cast doubts on the overall economic improvements achieved from expenditure by Invest NI, not least in terms of employment numbers, productivity and the types of jobs promoted.

Invest NI has one primary area of investment- itself. The organisation is a monument to back-slapping lack of vision – throwing good money after bad, showing a supernatural ability to pick losers. I say scrap it. Mind you, have a look at the swanky new offices it granted itself, what a good use of taxpayers money,,,,

I love to travel, and I love to receive visitors from abroad. I have absolutely nothing against travel, per se. But there really is a time and place for everything. With international headlines like these on Drudge:

Not to mention our troubled war in Afghanistan, domestic financial woes and high unemployment, why is Barack Obama, the President of the United States, going to Copenhagen to pitch Chicago for future Olympic games???

I SEE Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’ this evening will bring us the news on how some of our humble tribunes spent their 82 day summer holiday. Will I be watching? No, the blood pressure won’t stand it.

Here’s one they came across, the trade unionist and Labour life peer Lord Leaslipping a few quid to an oiled up young sweetie undertaking vital climate change research in Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Fiji.

Well, you can’t begrudge the old fella a relaxing night out after a gruelling journey (via Australia, turning left on the plane) can you?

The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent — a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept. — meaning millions of Americans are staring at the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be diminished and, combined with the predicted slow economic recovery, their transition into productive members of society could be put on hold for an extended period of time.

And worse, without a clear economic recovery plan aimed at creating entry-level jobs, the odds of many of these young adults — aged 16 to 24, excluding students — getting a job and moving out of their parents’ houses are long. Young workers have been among the hardest hit during the current recession — in which a total of 9.5 million jobs have been lost.

GOLD-PLATED pensions for town hall staff swallow up one pound out of every five paid in council tax, shocking new figures revealed last night. Local authorities across the country handed out an eye-watering £4.5billion in contributions to final-salary schemes last year. The huge sum is equivalent to £231 out of the average £1,154 annual household council tax bill. With many council taxpayers having to meet bills of more than £2,000 a year, it means the share towards public sector pensions is as high as £500.

The schism deepens. On the one hand we have those in the State sector who luxuriate in gold plated pensions that are only affordable if the rest of us pay crippling taxes and work longer and longer into our old age. Is this right? Why is the State sector immune from economic reality? Simple, because it is covered by the political cloak of government which realises that many votes could be lost if the jamboree was to be brought to a shuddering halt.

Look, I know there are people reading this who work for the State and who do a good job. I do not wish to be unkind to you. However I am saying that it seems proper that we all live within the means of what is affordable. This simple principle, if applied to the State sector, means job losses, salary cuts and pensions rolled back to the same level as those in the private sector. It is harsh, I know, but is the everyday reality for those working outside the umbrella of government and it would be better for the nation if we all shared it.

Iran has test-fired its long-range Shahab-3 missile, the country’s state TV has reported. The launch comes one day after the elite Revolutionary Guards test-fired short and medium range missiles. The Shahab-3 has a range of up to 2,000km (1,240 miles), potentially putting Israel and American bases in the Gulf within range, analysts say.

Colonel Gaddafi proposed an African-Latin American defence alliance yesterday at an intercontinental summit hosted by Venezuela. At the South America-Africa summit on Isla Margarita in Venezuela, the Libyan leader joined the host, President Chávez, in calling for an “anti-imperialist” front across Africa and Latin America. President Mugabe of Zimbabwe and President Zuma of South Africa were among almost 30 leaders from across the two continents present as Mr Chávez sought to promote his socialist policies abroad, urging a new world order that would confront Western dominance.

What a bunch of charmers and yet lionised by the western liberal elite. They are clear that WE are their enemy, meanwhile as in the case of Britain, we appease Ghadiffi, we worship the ANC and Mugabe is being brought in from the cold.

My own position is clear – rewarding effective commercial performance through bonus payments lies at the heart of capitalism and I fully endorse it. Meanwhile, back on planet socialism…

Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown will widen Labour’s attack on banking’s “greed and recklessness” today in an attempt to create a new election divide with the Conservatives.

The Chancellor will tell the party conference in Brighton that legislation to be introduced in the next few weeks will scrap automatic year-after-year bonuses and stop executives getting payouts unless they can prove they are deserved. Bonuses will be deferred over a period so that they can be clawed back if they are not warranted by long-term performance.

What right has this government to tell private companies how they will reward their employees? None. As far as I can determine (and you can correct me if you know otherwise) the draconian legislation that Labour plan can ONLY be legally apllied to those banks in which they (via the taxpayer) have acquired a significant financial interest in. In which case, that’s fine since anyone worth their salt will leave such zombie banks.

There is something deeper here in my view beyond the kneejerk desire of socialists to punish the evil bankers and thus gain some opportunistic political capital. There is an envy, a jealousy, a hatred at accepting the fact that some people are good at what they do, better than the average, and in doing so are worthy of greater levels of payment. There is also a sanitisation that just as some banks did perform abysmally, so did some governments and in particular that led by Mr Brown when he was Chancellor.

Hanging the bankers is a poor substitute for recognising that the more politicians meddle in the free market, the less effective it becomes. Labour would like to get to the point where it controls the private sector as much as it does the State sector and this is the shadow that this latest policy casts over the UK economy.

You do not defeat terrorism by rewarding terrorists, regardless of how many bleeding heart liberals argue otherwise. Want to know where that flawed approach leads to? Read UNIONISM DECAYED 1997-2007 - It's my first book and it explains what happens when you seeek to appease terrorists and call it peace. It's available right now for ATW readers so make sure you get your copy by emailing the editor! This is the book that dissents from the herd mentality that doing wrong can lead to being right. It doesn't and this book spells out WHY.

Copyright & copy; 2010 A Tangled Web (All rights reserved).Comments on articles here are unmoderated, and do not necessarily reflect the views of A Tangled Web or David Vance. Comments that are off-topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise unacceptable may be deleted by the Editor. However the fact a particular comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by David Vance of the views expressed therein.